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Rep. Linda Sanchez (Calif.), the current ranking member on Ethics, will continue in that post next year.

The elevation to Conaway at Ethics means five Texas Republicans - the biggest Republican delegation in the House - will chair full committees in the 113th Congress. In addition to Conway, Rep. Jeb Hensarling will oversee Financial Services, Rep. Pete Sessions will have the gavel at the influential Rules Committee, Rep. Michael Michaud will run the Homeland Security panel, and Rep. Lamar Smith will be on top of the Science, Space and Technology Committee.

The 64-year-old Conaway was elected to Congress in 2004. Conaway, who is already a member of the Ethics Committee, was a certified public accountant before coming to Capitol Hill.

“Mike has all the tools to be an effective Ethics Committee chairman: he is well-respected on both sides of the aisle; he’s led investigations of public officials in the past; and he understands the importance of both education and enforcement of the rules,” Boehner said in a statement announcing Conaway’s selection. “The American people have every right to expect the highest standards of conduct from their elected officials, and I’m confident that under Mike’s leadership the Ethics Committee will continue to be a guardian of their trust and a guarantor of accountability in the People’s House.”

GOP Reps. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.), Trey Gowdy (S.C.), Pat Meehan (Pa.), and Susan Brooks (Ind.) will make up the rest of the Republican roster on the bipartisan, 10-member Ethics Committee.

As the new chairman, Conaway will immediately face challenges on whether to begin full investigations into Reps. Aaron Schock (R-Ill.) and Bill Owens (D-N.Y.). Schock is under scrutiny over a $25,000 donation from Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) that he allegedly solicited for a GOP super PAC. Owens came under fire for a lobbyist-arranged trip he took to Taiwan in Dec. 2011.